James Gunn has been discussing how the Guardians Of The Galaxy series fits into the Marvel Cinematic Universe, and insists that the adventures of his super-team will not be “subservient to the Avengers”.

“The last thing I said was something about how the Guardians, we really are mostly focused on creating the Guardians as their own separate universe, creating the cosmic side of the Marvel Universe,” said Gunn on the Jeff Goldsmith Podcast. “It isn’t all about leading towards Avengers.”

“We’re not subservient to the Avengers,” he continues. “Whether or not at some point, some Guardians and some Avengers meet up and meet somewhere in the world, whether it’s two years from now, three years from now, four years from now, fifteen years from now…I’m not going to say.”

“But Guardians Of The Galaxydoes not exist as a prequel to Avengers 3 and 4. They have their own thing that they’re involved in. They have their own mythos that they’re involved in. They have their own stories that are equally important.”

“I don’t want to make everything too small by focusing on this other thing,” concludes Gunn. “I think it’s about making this world and this universe as big and as beautiful as possible.”

We’ll get to see the fruits of his labour in action when Guardians Of The Galaxy 2 opens in the US on 5 May 2017 and the UK on 28 July 2017.